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Letters April 21, 2011

As you may know, the CHCA is considering converting to a 501(c)(3) organization. To explore this idea, the board convened a special committee, which has held two meetings.
We have preliminarily concluded that such a conversion is possible, but discussion is ongoing as to whether the CHCA should become a 501(c)(3).
The committee will meet again on Monday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. On behalf of the committee, I invite and encourage anyone who has a view on this topic to please attend the meeting, share your viewpoint, and join in the discussion.

Stephanie Chomentowski
CHCA board member

On school violence

Pete Mazzaccaro’s recent editorial about school violence (“When public schools attack, April 17”) correctly suggests the complexity of the problem. That “a vast mix of social problems, institutional malaise and lack of resources all perpetuate the problem” is indisputable.
No allocation of resources, however, can mask the level of violence, real and depicted, that is unceasingly brought into every household, into the lives of every child, by television, by movies, by our uncontrolled appetite for more of everything, by our desire for things that are bigger and faster, by waging wars around the world and, indeed, by our tolerance of the corruption of language and its accompanying race to some sort of cultural bottom.
Even if there were no limits to school funding and a glut of superb teachers it seems clear to me that violence in our schools must only increase if we refuse to address issues that would raise profound first amendment rights and challenge the financial interests of media conglomerates.
Edward Sargent
Chestnut Hill

The neighbors are for the community

Mr. Budnick [in “not surprisedly neighbors’ opposition,” Letters, March 31] writes, “Have we ever found ‘near neighbors’ to be in favor of anything?” His inflammatory question is easy to answer. “Yes. They are passionately in favor of the community.”
Mr. Budnick also castigates the 100 residents for signing a statement of concern because, he says, to have 100 “affected neighbors … we will need every man, woman, child, dog, cat and gerbil.” As is unfortunately true of many living in many areas, Mr. Budnick ignores the fact that what happens in one locality also affects people who live in other areas. Rather than disparage, I applaud those who had the wisdom and the courage to act on their responsibility to their entire community, which involves more than just “near neighbors.”
Mr. Budnick states that he moved to Chestnut Hill because, “It was a really great neighborhood.” He states he does not like buses, but he wants to add enough buses to take 700 students to and from an already congested area.
Crefeld School uses every inch of its campus to handle its 100 students, brought there and taken from there by many, many buses. Seven hundred students simply could not be handled on the Greylock property, which is roughly the same size as the Crefeld School property.
Neighbors are those who are concerned about others in their community. That means being thoughtful of “near” neighbors, “far” neighbors, and others who would be affected, such as Fairmont Park. It is a hopeful sign that both near and far neighbors are stating what they are for, specifically, preserving a “really great neighborhood,” exactly the reason Mr. Budnick moved to Chestnut Hill.

George Spaeth
Chestnut Hill

Thanks

My heartfelt thank you to those of you whom I might have inadvertently missed sending a personal note.
Your generous contributions to “Charlie’s Bench,” which now graces the entrance area to the Chestnut Hill Library, are greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for this lovely and thoughtful tribute to Charlie Adelman’s memory.